[Alex Pepple]

Dear Erastophereans,

As most of us who have been here from the very beginning know, Alan Sullivan has performed the impossible feat of moderating one of our premier and busiest forums solo; for what seems like eons as moderators came & went. What's more he read each & every one of the thousands of posts on that forum as well!

Now, the double good news is that we will continue to enjoy Alan's competent moderatorship, but he no longer has to wing it solo:

I'm delighted to announce that the new & exciting addition to our moderator lineup is none other than the talented and distinguished Anthony Lombardy.

Tony is no stranger to the 'Sphere, but what some of you may not know however, is his scholarship and impressive credentials:

Anthony Lombardy has spent most of his adult life teaching Latin and Greek. He holds a Ph.D. in Classics (1990) from Vanderbilt,where his specialization was Aristotle, and he started the classics major at Belmont University, where he also taught, every other year, the poetry writing workshop. Tony's own teachers were John F. Nims, with whom he studied for three years, and Stephen Spender, with whom he conducted a literary correspondence for nearly twenty years. Last year Tony resigned his tenured but demanding teaching job in order to devote more time to his poetry and other neglected interests.

Tony's publications include one book of poems, Severe (Bennett&Kitchel 1995).

He has translated The Bacchae of Euripides, (Theatre Parthenos Press 1990) and has had essays, reviews and translations in Classical Bulletin, Classical Outlook, Classical World, Italian Americana, and other journals.

Tony has helped edit several literary journals and has had poems in The Cumberland Poetry Review, The Formalist, National Forum, The Hudson Review (forthcoming), The New Yorker, Pivot, Sparrow, and elsewhere, and poems on the web at Poetry Porch and WebDelSol.

Please join me in giving Anthony an warm, enthusiastic Eratosphere welcome!

Cheers,
...Alex

[Tom Jardine]

Tony,

From what I have seen you will do fine as a moderator, (something I'd not be able to do.)

But I have advice.

When commenting on posters' poems, please say things like, so and so, you must rewrite lines 1-58 and change the meter completely! Start over!

When commenting on my poems, please say things like, Great! Good! Perfect!

Just kidding. Welcome. TJ

[Anthony Lombardy]

Thanks for the thoughtful advice, Tom! Seriously, I'm looking forward to learning a lot this year by hanging out more in the Sphere, and I appreciate your good words!

Tony

[Robt_Ward]

Well, Tony:

Welcome to the brave new world. Gird thy loins and sally forth. Gonna be a pleasure seeing more of you!

(robt)

[Anthony Lombardy]

Thanks, Bear!